However, it was the series of Nike commercials for Air Jordan sneakers that is the lasting legacy of the character. In the commercials (which Lee also directed), Mars is like a puppy dog to Jordan, jumping around, speaking a mile a minute, when around his idol. When watching Jordan play basketball, Mars theorizes "it's gotta be the shoes" as an explanation for why Jordan can jump so high.

"Mars was really from my imagination. I had asked my grandmother for a name, and she had a crazy uncle named Mars once, so that's where that came from. But I never met anybody like that character. All from imagination. The bike messenger, hoop fan, seer, who was "kinda small," so Nola Darling could dog him, but who loved the Knicks, Bernard King's game. Probably a lot of Mars was me ..."

With Jordan retiring (for the final time?) at the end of the 2002-2003 season, several of the old Mars Blackmon commercials have aired. Additionally, Lee and Jordan filmed a brand new commercial, where Mars tries to confirm whether his hero's really retiring.